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JanetB - Posted - 11/15/2014: 13:37:12
United Kingdom member Neill Connor recently posted a video "challenging" me to learn this tune, so here 'tis. He sent me banjo tab from Ken Perlman's 1970's publication. I listened to virtuoso Ken's version on guitar and simplified parts of it, changing the 5th string tuning, eliminating the difficult triplets for this recording, and finding open notes to play. The A part is what I find nicest. Neill says that a tailor's twist is a kind of thread -- that idea fits the music.
Paul Roberts - Posted - 11/15/2014: 14:24:25
An awesome challenge successfully realized. And a very interesting hornpipe at that.
neillconnor - Posted - 11/15/2014: 14:51:07
Yes Janet certainley rose to the challenge and solved it basicslly in a day. She noted that ken, in double c tuning used the 5th string fretted at the 7th fret several times to get important melody notes that were quite hard to execute cleanly. She spotted that this move could be removed by re tuning the fifth string up a tone as ken seldom used the fifth string for the rest of the piece. He only used it twice and she solved this by barring the 1st string at the seventh.
I spent 3 years learning this piece and always struggled.
I fist learnt the piece from a Uilleann piper, Dickie Deegan in Co Clare, Ireland. He played it in conjuction with another beautiful hornpipe called the Ballyoran. I played it 1st on a tin whistle and also later on uilleann pipes but never thought it possible to play on 5 string banjo succesfully but Janet has done an ecceptional job.
I'll link a video shortly of me playing janets tuning but woyh all the ornimention on it.
Thanks Janet
JanetB - Posted - 11/15/2014: 16:08:39
Thanks, Paul--sometimes we commit to projects whose outcome we wonder about....Neill, thanks for describing the mechanics of the piece and telling us your source. I'm assuming then, it's Irish. On-line I discovered it goes by another name -- The Jolly Butchers. Your recent video sounded clear and bright and I look forward to your next one. Now the pressure's on you. 
neillconnor - Posted - 11/15/2014: 16:14:02
Here is my ornimated version using all of kens tab but played in Janets tuning. So much easier to play in this tuning.
I play this fairly slow as having been to Ireland many times ive noticed that in pub sessions all tunes whether they be jogs, reels and hornpipes are played too fast, its like some sort of competition to see who can play fastest and in playing too fast the beauty and ornimentation is lost.
These tunes are dance tunes and at dancing competitions ive attended the musicians play the tunes considetably slower.
youtube.com/watch?v=OyqGHRbZG9...ta_player
Edited by - Bill Rogers on 11/15/2014 22:24:37
neillconnor - Posted - 11/15/2014: 16:48:28
I think around here they'd say "never heard Geoge Formby play that one"
If you tell people you play banjo they either ask
if you can play leaning on a lampost or duelings banjos.
rickhayes - Posted - 11/15/2014: 18:04:34
Figured Janet would accept the challenge and conquer it, and kudos for figuring a better way to do it. Fine playing by both Janet and Neill.
Laurence Diehl - Posted - 11/15/2014: 21:18:59
I love hornpipes - that is a really nice one!
Patrick P. - Posted - 11/16/2014: 05:36:48
Very nice, i really enjoy
JanetB - Posted - 11/16/2014: 08:55:09
Neill's two other links above go to Dunphy's Hornpipe and The Dubliners playing The Belfast Hornpipe/Swallowtail Reel. That second video is a good example of the difference between a hornpipe and reel. I like the slower lilting rhythm of a hornpipe. I like reels, too. One has to get to know them real well to play that fast.
Neill commented to me that when he visited Ireland the music is all done so quickly that he felt like there was a competition to see who could do it the fastest. I like my favorite fiddler, James Bryan's, comment about speed: "I think this song would sound a whole lot better played a little slower." In the story relating this piece of wisdom, James would actually stop playing when whoever kicked off the song began it too fast for his sensitive tastes.
My favorite hornpipe is Off to California (my home state).
neillconnor - Posted - 11/16/2014: 09:21:09
Very nice Janet, your banjo has a Harp loke quality on this track.
neillconnor - Posted - 11/16/2014: 10:29:23
I think the ultimate in a banjo challenge would be to play Irish slow airs on a five string. A lot of hornpipes and reels come from the slow airs but the banjo lacks the sustain. Tenor banjo players get around it by repeatedly playing a note they wish to sustain but to my ears it dosnt really work and isnt smooth enough.
I'd love to be able to play the Coolin on five string.
Here it is on vpipes, an electric sort of gizmo to produce the sound of uilleann pipes without the need for the tempremental reeds of the real instrument.
You'll notice i was banned to the garage playing these.
youtube.com/watch?v=WylYMOSEyL...ta_player
JanetB - Posted - 11/16/2014: 13:37:53
That link to The Coolin was beautiful, Neill. I don't play airs, but here are a couple that may come close. One is Scottish and is picked and the other Irish and is clawed. Mostly I've picked pieces from O'Carolan. If you like him there's a good book out there that's for 3-finger picking called O'Carolan for 5 String Banjo by Ron Hughes (a BHO member).
neillconnor - Posted - 12/17/2014: 02:08:11
I sent an e mail to Ken Perlman regarding this discusion and he replied with yet another way to play the tune. I havnt tried it yet.
Neill
Here's another way, which I learned years ago from Howie Bursen. Assuming that you're double C, capo 2; tune the 5th string up to A instead of putting it in a railroad spike or rail capo. Then the note A falls on fret 5 instead of fret 7. As a guitarist who cradled the neck with his left hand, Howie liked to use his thumb to fret the 5th string -- which can be a lot easier than catching the 7th fret with the fourth finger.
I prefer using the railroad spike instead of tuning up the fifth string so that the fret locations of notes on the fifth string remain the same for both uncapoed and capoed banjo. But I can see the advantages of changing the 5th string tuning for easier fingering.
I don't like the idea of tuning the drone to A as well because it changes the tonality of the instrument (creates odd overtones), and because if you wanted to switch to backup you would have an oddly tuned drone string.
Anyway, just a few thoughts.
Cheers
Ken
In a message dated 12/11/2014 3:47:38 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, spartanrifles@aol.com writes:
Ken,
Don't know if this will be of any interest to you but a couple of weeks ago there was a discusion about the tab you arranged for the hornpipe Tailors twist in one of your clawhammer books.
Its a tune ive strugled with for years as have a lot of other people due to the fretting of the 5th string at the 7th fret. Its such a pretty tune but many people struggle with the awkward fingering.
anyhow, Janet Burton came up with a tuning that makes it a lot simpler to play but dosn't omit any of the ornimentation. This she did by simply re-tuning the 5th string to A. That way you dont need to jump to the 7th fret of the 5th string, but instead play it open.
The only other time the 5th is used in the tune in double c is in the 2nd part but with the 5th tuned to A, the required note can be found by fretting the 2nd string at fret 7.
It really does make the tune easier to play for intermediate players and as its such abeautiful tune, maybe more people will have a go at it.
Regards
Neill
